It takes a village... and a goat

Despite the fact that the finance ministers of the G8 member countries agreed yesterday to $40 billion in debt relief for mostly African nations, mainstream news coverage in the West from the continent these days still seem to be very dim. Television newscasts are bombarded with images of famine, war, poverty and AIDS.

Finally the US newsmagazine "60 Minutes" finally broke the mold last night with an interview with Beatrice Biira, a young Uganda woman who got herself out of a poverty-stricken village with the help of a goat. "It is through selling the goat's milk that I was able to [go to school]," said Beatrice, who owes her good fortune to Heifer International, a charity based in Arkansas.

Heifer International is known for its work distributing livestock to poor families all over the world. In 1991, Heifer introduced 12 goats to 12 families in Kisinga. Beatrice’s family was lucky enough to receive a goat that produced enough milk to sell. Beatrice's family was finally able to support the household and send her to school. She learned how to read and write at the age of ten. She progressed so well in school that she was offered a scholarship to at the prestigious New England prep school, Northfield Mt. Hermon. From there she matriculated to Connecticut College, where she just completed her freshman year. During this summer she will work as an intern for Senator Hillary Clinton.

That is a lot to accomplish for a young woman from her circumstances. She says she owes it to that goat, and now she is prepared to give the goat to someone else in the village who is most needy. According to Beatrice, goats are for sharing. You get a goat, and you share your goat’s offspring with one of your neighbors. It’s done in a ritual called “Passing on the Gift.” The program showed the descendants of Heifer’s original 12 goats being passed from families lucky enough to have had them to other families in desperate need.

When asked what she would like to be doing in 10 years, she said, "I would love to see myself forming maybe a school for children who are disadvantaged. Or maybe an orphanage, and maybe a farm with cows or goats, and giving those children milk. And I'd love to see them get healthier, all by my work."

While governments and development activists activists argue over how much money should be given to Africa, sometimes it just takes more practical organizing - and a goat - to make a difference on the continent.